Electronic systems and circuits have made a significant contribution towards the advancement of modern society and are utilized in a number of applications to achieve advantageous results. Numerous electronic technologies such as digital computers, calculators, audio devices, video equipment, and telephone systems facilitate increased productivity and cost reductions in analyzing and communicating data, ideas and trends in most areas of business, science, education and entertainment. Wireless networks are often utilized to realize many of these advantageous results. Wireless networks typically facilitate distributed processing and communication of information over large geographic areas. However, roaming between geographical areas usually involves user re-authentication and registration which can adversely impact and/or interrupt the perception of continuous information communication.
Wireless networks offer a number of potential advantages including permitting a user to be relatively mobile within coverage areas when engaging in communication activities. Wireless networks usually have a stationary basic infrastructure which communicates information to and from wireless mobile nodes or end user devices such as cell phones, laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and a variety of other devices. A client (e.g., end user) normally accesses a wireless network via a mobile node (MN) by initiating a communication session with an access point (AP), such as a wireless router, switch, etc. The client typically initiates access by engaging in an authentication and registration process with centralized network resources via the access point. Traditionally the authentication and registration process is performed each time a mobile node enters within range or a geographical area associated with an access point.
It is often important in a wireless network for communications to appear continuous with minimal or no interruptions to the continuity of information flow. Maintaining minimal interruptions in conventional communication networks with roaming wireless devices is relatively difficult and/or impossible. When a mobile node or device roams from one geographical region to another geographical region, information communication is limited until the mobile node or device is authenticated and registered in the “new” geographical region. Information not related to authentication and registration is not permitted to be communicated during the “re-authentication and registration” process. Traditional authentication and registration mechanisms tend to take a relatively significant amount of time and resources. The “exclusive” utilization of the network communications for authentication and registration results in interruptions to the continuity of other information communications.
Conventional communication network limitations (e.g., bandwidth, etc.) often compound problems associated with traditional authentication and registration processes. For example, traditional authentication and registration processes usually rely on direct communication of authentication information between a single central authentication resource and a mobile node. Bottlenecks and delays in authentication often occur when large numbers of mobile nodes attempt to authenticate with the single central authentication resource at the same time causing interruptions and delays in communication of other information as the mobile nodes move from one geographical area to another.